Philip Morris' 1Q profit falls, misses forecasts

NEW YORK (AP) — Philip Morris International Inc. on Tuesday reported a drop in first-quarter profit on lower cigarette sales volume.

The tobacco company, which only sells its products outside the U.S., reported a 14.8 percent dip in net income to $1.53 billion, or 98 cents per share.

The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.11 per share.

Revenue fell 3.3 percent to $16.08 billion in the period, which also fell short of Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $16.28 billion.

The company said a mix of currency fluctuations and lower shipment volumes cut into its overall revenue.

Philip Morris expects full-year earnings to be $4.40 to $4.50 per share.

Philip Morris International shares fell $1.10 to $99.50 in premarket trading about 2 and a half hours ahead of the market open. They have increased 14 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 2.5 percent. The stock has risen 18 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PM at http://www.zacks.com/ap/PM